RFII isn’t a landmark game or an astoundingly innovative one, but it sure is a lot of fun to play.

With cinematic camera angles, a grime-infested aesthetic, and gruesomely glistening monsters, Silent Hill 2 improves on the original in every way.

Despite its now trademark addictive gameplay, THPS2 just doesn’t cut it anymore—on an aged system Tony just looks and sounds awful, and there aren’t any new features to redeem it.

There's plenty of bang for your buck, and attempting missions over again in harder difficulty modes can really prove themselves as addicting challenges. Throw in the extraordinary Crysis Wars multiplayer, and you've got yourself an absolute steal.

Even with its minor faults, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better-feeling, better-looking, jack-of-all-trades action game on the market today. [Mar 2008, p.82]

The campaign mode, however, does sport enemies with better A.I. that make the missions much tougher this time around. [Sept 2004, p.83]

Best weapons to date, crystal clear sound, easier control than previous Worms games.

Skate 2 does have a lot to offer but it falls short in a lot of ways. Its realistic feel is great when it comes to technical aspects like tricks and controls but it's taken one step too far. [Mar 2009, p.79]

The new features, refined interface, and (above all) near-perfect sense of balance make this old dog feel vital and new.

As long as you don’t mind a slightly more technical feel and a hefty challenge, you’ll find the best thing to happen with jetskis since the N64’s Wave Race.

And even in its diminutive form, the game feels exactly the same as it always has—pros, cons, and all.

Each web action has its own distinct sound, and swinging through Manhattan on a web line is feels and sounds just right.

SMB's insane worlds, which beg exploration and conceptual absurdities, are anchored by intuitive controls and an innovative use of jump and slide physics, and midleap bending, culminating in a pinnacle of game design that redefined how video games were played. [July 2004, p.88]

A non-stop adrenaline rush, and as a multiplayer game, it is dangerously addictive.

When it comes to sports games, the GameCube’s controller always seems to suffer in points due to its unconventional button arrangement, but surprisingly it's not an issue this year. The default setting has been specialized for the GameCube, and it works wonders.

Wipeout 64 has everything a futuristic racer needs: A healthy variety of tracks, slickly designed craft, weapons, numerous game modes, hidden goodies, and speed, speed, SPEED! This is a must-have for every N64 gamer's library!

Excellent track design, sweet graphics, and big replay value make Rush 2049 the best arcade racer for the Dreamcast.

A nicely executed adventure worth fighting for, just be prepared to suffer inglorious defeats until you get used to the game cam.

The music really does most of the heavy lifting here and I'd gladly purchase the soundtrack if one was made available but the game's lack of polish left me a little flat.

Given its challenging gameplay, emphasis on techniques, and required replayability, Rocket Bunnies has the potential to offer hours of fun while turning away the casual audience.

Truly a strange bird in the world of shooters. It doesn't offer the rich backstory and characters of a game like BioShock, but damned if I didn't laugh countless times during the many outbursts of colorful language from its cast. Like its innovative predecessors, Bulletstorm goes against the grain of the popular norm, often in exciting and hilarious ways, and though it's not perfect, it's still one hell of a ride.

It shows depth, talent, and imagination. Everything any winning team needs.

This laundry list of complaints might seem like a game breaker, but that I could suffer through them repeatedly during my marathon New Vegas weekend and still walk away feeling not only satisfied but hungry for more says something about the power of the formula that Bethesda has crafted.

Painful level grinding aside, Dragon Quest V is a fantastic, innovative experience.

For veterans, it'll feel like the same gameplay found in all previous Ace Combat games--and that's not necessarily a bad thing considering this is a shooter that's still worthy of sitting in first class.

A solid, riveting story combined with refined gameplay set this game firmly in the outstanding (or should that be "uncanny"?) category.

Global thermonuclear war has been a popular topic for decades, but few things have managed to capture the spirit of the subject and present in both a digestible and utterly unforgettable form as Defcon.

Compared to D2D, "Thunder's" cars don't handle as smoothly and its Career mode is heavy on complexity and short on fun. [Dec 2002, p.194]